


Behind Closed Doors

by snooperj, TheDarkShadow



Series: Our Last Stand [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Drama, Gen, M/M, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-27
Updated: 2013-01-27
Packaged: 2017-11-27 03:18:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/657450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snooperj/pseuds/snooperj, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDarkShadow/pseuds/TheDarkShadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With the Stark Tower undergoing massive repairs after the damage from the invasion, Tony overworks Jarvis to the point of noticing something off about the alleged supercomputer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Re-Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> Happens around the same timeline as 'Re-crossing Paths', but a little earlier. Our muse for Jarvis here (yeah, he's not actually a supercomputer nor a butler) is Johnny Depp.
> 
> Cross-posted to ff.net under the author name: Coffee-dono

"Jarvis, where are we at with the repairs?" Tony Stark asked from his desk, looking over some files on his holographic computer.

"Repairs are at 80% completion sir," Jarvis' computer voice reported.

"Glad to hear. Keep me posted. I wanna get started on our next big project once we're back at full capacity," Tony instructed.

Jarvis unintentionally groaned through the mic before saying, "Of course sir."

Making sure it went unnoticed, Tony looked around for a moment, sweeping the entire floor. "...Did I just hear you groan Jarvis? 'Cause I  _know_ that wasn't me," Tony asked in confirmation.

There was a distinct pause that never happened. "You must be mistaken sir," came the reply.

Tony had slowly risen from his chair and started looking around, trying to pinpoint a location along the wall that would give way to a room of some kind. "You sure?" he prodded.

"Of course sir," Jarvis replied smoothly, though there was now an obvious tone of irritation that he was trying hard to mask, and easily failed in doing so.

"Uh, I beg to differ," Tony retorted, moving towards a certain panel along the wall where he noticed the light switch held a small, hidden button that he reached out for and pressed. With a whir, a hidden door slid aside as Tony found himself looking at a man monitoring several monitors and keyboards with an earpiece lodged in his right ear.

The man was too preoccupied, having muted his mic as he mumbled incoherent ramblings as his fingers typed rapid commands to his droids that were taking care of the repairs.

Tony wondered for a moment before turning away from the little room and said, "Remind me how you plan to clean up the mess, Jarvis?"

"With the help of the droids sir. Naturally," Jarvis answered, his voice layered over with its usual computer voice. He was completely oblivious to his boss watching his every move.

Tony was going to change that very quickly. Raising a hand, he cleared his throat loudly, hoping that it would get his computer's attention.

The sound of rapid typing halted before Jarvis wheeled around and locked gazes with Tony. Jarvis wore glasses that he otherwise awkwardly adjusted sitting on the bridge of his nose. Not to mention his hair was an absolute mess. So much awkwardness.

"So you weren't a supercomputer," Tony pointed out. Funnily enough, it was far from a question. In fact, it even resembled a statement. Something Jarvis was not hoping for.

"Hello sir," Jarvis greeted, showing signs of nervousness.

Tony stared at him a few moments more before he reached out and grabbed Jarvis by the arm. Just for a touch. "Get out here," the billionaire insisted.

Jarvis was adamant and resisted. "I prefer staying here," he pointed out.

"Don't be silly. The last thing I want is be accused of keeping someone locked up in a confined space," Tony chided.

"You haven't, so you are innocent of all charges," Jarvis answered pointedly.

"Okay, seeing you talk and hearing the computer voice? Totally sucks. Turn the morpher off," Tony instructed.

"I prefer my voice be masked," Jarvis reasoned out, reaching a hand up and attempted to tame his otherwise wild hair.

Tony was not having any of it and reached out and found just the button. "Why? So you have something to hide behind?" The CEO pressed the button and the blue light from the earpiece finally dimmed to null. "Or maybe... You don't want me recognizing you?"

Jarvis' frown at this was very evident. He did not approve of Tony's robust methods in getting someone to confess things to him; at least when it came to Jarvis personally. Otherwise, he was more than happy to be of assistance. "Am I to imply that you-"

"Finally remembered after all these years?" Tony interjected with a small smirk.

Damn him. Tony was too smart for his own good. Jarvis was peeved about it more often than not. But he had learned to keep himself from showing it.

"Jarvis Denver," Tony suddenly said, snapping Jarvis out of his thoughts once more. How the philanthropist managed this feat so many times was beyond comprehension for even Jarvis.

"Yes, that's my name sir," Jarvis confirmed.

Tony wasted no more time and took Jarvis by the wrist and promptly pulled him from his confined space and out into the open. "How can you sit there for hours and-"

"Weeks," Jarvis cut in immediately.

"...Weeks and not stretch your legs even just a bit?" Tony finished.

"Because I grew accustomed to it," Jarvis answered simply. "Naturally, you wouldn't prefer this response."

"Hell yeah," Tony agreed unforgivingly. "Especially since I had a big crush on you back in university," Iron Man admitted point-blank, giving Jarvis a cool mix of seriousness and snarky in his facial expression. Regardless, this was Tony Stark.

"If I recall, I was the one with the infatuation sir," Jarvis corrected.

"Okay, you know what? I don't wanna hear you calling me 'sir'. That's for all the formal stuff, but it's only us here so let loose would ya?" Tony complained.

Jarvis frowned. Tony was asking for too many adjustments. "I-I'll try s-Tony," he replied with an accompanying sigh.

Oblivious to this sigh, Tony nodded and pulled Jarvis off towards his bedroom. "You're taking a nap," he instructed.

"But the repairs-"

"Are being done by the bots you already put on auto-pilot," Tony cut in pointedly, kicking the door open. "Get inside."

"But that's your room."

"And I have a big bed, so no complaints," Tony fired back smoothly, dragging Jarvis towards the bed and pushed him onto the soft mattress.

Jarvis was unsure when he had last experienced something this soft. If anything, he gave out a sigh of approval and found a more comfortable position. Before he could though, he felt another body plummet onto the bed beside him as he turned and saw Tony there, already with his eyes closed and out like a light, snoring soundly.

For a while, it actually amused him that Tony had kept himself awake long enough to drag Jarvis back to bed with him. Realistically speaking, Jarvis would normally try to wriggle and slither back into the hole he came from, but something about Tony's arms wrapping over him and the hot breath that came through Tony's steady breathing on his neck was both reassuring and relaxing. Instantly, the annoyance he had felt prior to Tony's discovery of him had vanished, and all he had left was the fatigue and the unsung appreciation he wanted to impart to his benefactor.

 _'In time I hope I can refer to him as more than just that... Into something that we can be,'_   Jarvis thought blissfully to himself. But he wouldn't dare rush anything. This WAS Tony Stark, after all. Jarvis could afford withholding his intentions of jumping his employer until the childish genius was ready.


	2. Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jarvis wakes up the day after Tony discovers him. The supercomputer realizes that he may need time to adjust after all.

The first thing that Jarvis had noticed the moment he woke up was the fact that he wasn't feeling cramped. He adjusted his foot and expected to hit the metal frame of where the CPU was nestled or at least the edge of the table. Feeling neither, he frowned and slowly reached out for the keyboard that was supposed to be there.

His hand landed on something soft.

' _What in the world?'_  he thought before slowly realizing that instead of being in a sitting position he was currently lying down on his side in a fetal position. Now that was strange; since when did he move a bed in his office? How the hell did it even fit?

Groaning, he stretched his legs and heard a feint cracking sound from his back.  _'That feels good…'_  he thought with a smile before slowly opening his eyes only to close them again as they were assaulted by sunlight. And that sent Jarvis into panic as he quickly moved and resulted in nearly falling off the bed.

Nearly falling off; the keyword there was  _nearly_. Jarvis slowly opened his eyes and looked down to see a strong pair of arms around his midsection. That was definitely new. His mind was so not used to rest that it was nearly taking him forever to realize just what exactly was going on. Slowly, he turned around and was pulled back.

His nose crashed into something hard; something hard and breathing.

Blinking, Jarvis looked up only to meet the face of a grinning Tony Stark.

"Good morning, sunshine," came the snarky greeting and Jarvis jumped back and fell this time around. "Whoa there... No need to get so hot-wired in the morning," Tony told him with a smirk. "See there? That was a joke. It was funny so you should be laughing," he told him. Jarvis merely stared, causing Tony to frown. "What? Really? Not even a chuckle? Man you need a lot of work…" he said as he scratched the back of his head. He then paused and pointed at Jarvis. "Not the kind of work you're used to, by the way."

Jarvis had no idea what to say. Yes, sure he was always talking to this man but never this way. He was so used to having to talk while in front of a computer but now that he was face to face with Tony he had no idea what to do.

Wait…Tony's lips were moving…oh was he still talking? Ah crap, Jarvis had no idea what he just said. He then noticed the older staring at him as if waiting for a response. Slowly Jarvis nodded his head.

"Okay then, you get back on the bed and I make breakfast…or have it delivered…whichever."

Breakfast? Oh right it was morning. Jarvis never really ate breakfast before. He usually just crammed in one meal a day and got to work the rest of the day. Huh…

Shaking his head, he watched Tony head out of the room after instructing him to stay inside the bedroom. Slumping back into the mattress, he sighed.

He needed some time to get used to this…


	3. Adjustments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony starts listing off just how much adjustments need to be made to account for his newfound employee (so-to-speak). Of course, this includes how the genius was going to cope with the other genius in his midst.

Tony had been careless. Why didn't anyone tell him his supercomputer was actually a super genius locked away in a little nook in his house? He never expected it. Heck, he was genuinely surprised. And that was often a difficult feat to pull off. He had spent a good amount of time literally pacing the floor just figuring out how to convince Jarvis to  _stay_  out of his little nook. If Tony had to make a guess, Jarvis would literally run back to his office where it was safe.

But Iron Man wasn't going to have any of that. He needed to take responsibility. After all, up until last night, he never knew. this got him thinking about how Jarvis was practically existing all this time. He never saw him walking around the place after all.

This got Tony pacing the floor again as questions started to flood his mind about the alleged supercomputer currently lazed on his bed.

How did he eat? What did he eat?  **When**  did he eat?

How did he sleep? Did he  **even**  sleep?

Did he  **even**  take baths? Did he  **even**  change clothes?

He needed to answer those questions. Tony suddenly stopped his pacing and furrowed his brows. Taking things at face value, he needed to impose a heck of a lot of new rules for Jarvis to adhere to. But was Jarvis really the only one who needed to adjust?

A look back at his actions - much that he purposely avoided doing so - made Tony reconsider them; especially if it concerned the handful of relentless, merciless and not to mention heartless requests he had made of Jarvis. Not that he could help it; all he knew at the time was that Jarvis was a computer and nothing beyond that. And boy did he want to kick himself for being such an ass to him all this time.

"Looks like I need to adjust too..." he finally admitted. Not really realizing it, he had started walking in mid-thought and ended up in the kitchen. "I had all this?" Tony asked himself incredulously, but only to humor himself. He knew zilch about cooking, so he often wondered if the interior design could have just made the appliances plastic so he wouldn't accidentally burn anything or waste any gas for that matter.

"...Oh right... I was going to order take-out," Tony finally realized, pulling out his phone and speed-dialed a number to order some breakfast for the two of them. It beat slaving over a hot stove on a particularly cruel summer morning.

"Meh... I should probably let him adjust on his own. He's probably tired of hearing me nagging all the time," Tony considered after ending his call minutes later, decided to head back and check on Jarvis in the bedroom.


	4. Coding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An escape attempt. Jarvis just wanted to go back to his comfort zone and be the supercomputer that he was. Forget being human, he just wanted back in his little nook.

Once Jarvis was entirely sure that Tony was gone, he started to move. While he was very grateful for the gesture, he wasn't all that comfortable with the setting. Wide spaces, soft bed...while he had to admit that it was all nice, he just felt out of place with it all. Made him wonder why he even agreed to let himself be dragged out in the first place.

Shaking his head, he gingerly got off the bed and stretched. He had a lot more work to do and knowing Dummy, he would be pacing around trying to figure out what to do. Jarvis didn't want to have that. The last time Dummy did that he accidentally crashed into the Iron Man suit and put a rather large dent in it. This was a big pain for Jarvis, considering he had to fix it before Tony even noticed. He did manage to fix it but it took him the whole evening to do so. By the time the suit was good as new Tony had woken up, which marked another sleepless night for the younger; which he was already used to so it wasn't that much of a big deal.

Jarvis sighed again and closed his eyes. He should really stop having these flashbacks. It wasn't good for his soul.

Looking around, he made his way out of the room. He noticed the lack of activity in the house that made him want to tear his hair out. He put the bots on auto-pilot but that was only good for around 3 hours' worth of work; he'd been asleep for five. Groaning, he looked around and spotted movement.

Tony was in the kitchen and he was surely going to get caught if he as much as tried to get past that door. He crossed his arms at this and thought. He knew he had another office tucked somewhere in case of emergencies but he just had to remember where.

He was about to snap his fingers when he remembered but knew that would be a bad idea. Slowly, he made his way to the lobby of that certain floor. There was another room he prepared that was just beside the elevator. It was noisy and more cramped than the first one, sure, but it would get the job done.

It would have to do for now. Just until Tony stopped looking for him.


	5. Research

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Jarvis vanished, Tony decided to heed Jarvis' want for privacy and decided to do a bit of research. What else was he to do?

When Tony had reached the bedroom, he pushed the door open a little more and frowned. His newfound re-discovery was gone.  _'He escaped,'_ he concluded with a frown. All that left the billionaire-genius-playboy was a frustrated sigh. This made inquiries start flooding his active mind again.

What did he not like about a bed?

Did I startle him?

Does he hate lots of space?

Is he mad at me?

That last thought broke his spirits for a while, which was later followed by another question that Tony muttered quietly to himself: "Did he leave me?"

It was a valid question. He surprisingly found himself whimpering in silent disbelief. Jarvis was too overworked, probably to the point of lacking sleep; not to mention Tony's high disregard to allowing Jarvis his rejuvenation. It wasn't entirely his fault, but he should have known better. He was anything but a slave driver, and the last one he'd want to treat that way was Jarvis.

If Jarvis had decided to recede back into his little space in the walls or leave altogether, Tony wasn't going to complain. He had no right to, after all...even if he was technically the guy's boss. If his foolish disregard for Jarvis - regardless if he was human or computer - was to blame, then he would take full responsibility. He would have needed to sooner or later.

But he wasn't going to start by searching aimlessly in every nook of the place for Jarvis. If he did that, he'd just end up dragging Jarvis out unwillingly again. He had enough of that. Instead, Tony just decided to do things on his own for now. He waited until his take-out arrived and left Jarvis' share on the counter.

"Come get it when you feel like it buddy," he called out, thinking Jarvis had another secret room somewhere and was probably listening in. Tony took his own share and made his way to grab a tablet from his bedroom and went to his ultra secret lab underground that he made sure Jarvis didn't know about - or at least wasn't supposed to.

Once he got settled in, he placed his breakfast on the table and powered up his tablet before tapping a button to phase the information out so he could see everything without straining his neck. These were the times he was glad to be a genius, a billionaire and innovative enough to make hardcore technology like this. With several flicks of his fingers to make the information bounce about, Tony shed off the wrapping off his shawarma and took a sizeable bite off it.

"Okay, let's see what he's been through," Tony muttered in a mouthful before he typed in his query:

**Jarvis Denver**

And in an instant, every piece of information available to him came flooding out of his little virtual chest - videos, articles, recordings and an encrypted folder that piqued his interest.

"Looks like the man has some secrets of his own..." Tony remarked, smirking as he cracked his neck and his fingers. "Let's get to work then," he told himself before his 6-hour research on his computer began.


	6. Errors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jarvis had managed to escape and hide again in one of his hidden little nooks. Noticing Tony hide in an area that was restricted to him, he starts to think if he made an error in slipping away.

The first thing that Jarvis did when he had reached his little area by the elevator was sigh in relief. He was in a familiar space and surrounded by equally familiar things. When a person lived like that for more than 20 years you were bound to get used to it, after all.

He then turned on his screens and promptly inputted codes for the machines around Tony Stark's tower to get them working again. And just like that, the Stark tower came to life. This made Jarvis smile. He was in control again. Slightly delayed from schedule, but back in control. He glanced around and saw a camera that showed Dummy happily re-painting the walls that was there.

"That's a good boy," he cooed through the screen. He liked that little bot; he really did.

Spotting a delivery man come through the front doors, he automatically leaned forward to the mic to announce the man's presence but for some reason was unable to speak.

He ended up watching as the man dropped off the food. Tony paid for it and the man left, all the while Jarvis couldn't find it in himself to talk.

Tony then placed the food on the counter and took some of it.  _'He's not going to eat all of it? Why isn't he putting it in the refrigerator? The power is stable...'_  he thought with a frown before noticing that Tony had looked up to a camera.

**"Come get it when you feel like it buddy."**

Jarvis blinked in surprise. The food was for him? That was...interesting.

He then followed Tony's movements as he walked out of sight and into an area that he was restricted to get into. Tony had built it before, claiming that it was for 'ultra secrets' that not even Jarvis was allowed to see.

He was starting to regret agreeing not to bug that area, really. Then again why was Tony going there  _ **now**_  of all times?

Did Jarvis do something wrong?

Did Tony find it disturbing now that he knew Jarvis was actually human?

Did he just want to do something in complete privacy?

Was he mad at Jarvis?

The last question made Jarvis' heart sink. He didn't want Tony mad at him, not at all.

Maybe that was it though. Tony was mad at him for deceiving him. After all, the man believed he was just some fancy supercomputer until a few hours ago.

Sighing, Jarvis supposed that was it.

Shaking his head, he decided on something. If Tony was uncomfortable with him and preferred a supercomputer then a superhuman computer was what he was going to get.

His hands, though cold and numb because of his shock and sudden depression, flew around the keyboard putting in various commands.

It took him around 7 hours to finish before he was satisfied with it. Nodding to himself he picked up a small transparent piece of glass that was projecting something that needed external input.

He went past the untouched Shawarama platter that was intended for him.

Slowly, he made his way to the lab that Tony had built. It took a few minutes to actually find but he eventually got there.

Reaching the door he knocked. "Sir?" he called out and waited for Tony to let him in.

Wordlessly he handed Tony the panel he was holding. Without waiting for the other man, he started to explain.

"I realize that you would be highly uncomfortable in working with me now that you know the truth," he told him. "Therefore, sir, I resign from this position," he added, his face maintaining a calm facade.

"That panel just needs your input on the name you'd like for your master program; something that will take over my job for your convenience. I also programmed in a few voices so please feel free to pick the one that would please you the most," he pointed out before managing a smile.

"That's all sir. It has been a pleasure working with you."

And with that, he turned around and walked out of the lab.


	7. Compromise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony wasn't just about to let Jarvis walk out of his life like that. He hadn't been researching for hours just to let him leave. He had more to say and to show.

"Hold up there Jarvis," Tony called out, taking the panel almost gingerly for a moment before smirking and subsequently dropped it from his hands, causing it to break.

Jarvis wheeled around when he heard this and the dismayed look on his face was unmistakable.  _'I spent hours working on that!'_  he complained, his 7 hours of labor down the drain.

"I never said I wanted a replacement or anything, did I?" the billionaire remarked, crossing his arms in huff.

"But sir-"

"No," Tony cut in immediately before he averted his gaze. He was starting to sound arrogant again. He decided to tone it down a bit. "But I do have to apologize for treating you so insensitively before."

Jarvis knew where this was going. "You don't have to apologize for that," he insisted. "It was my decision to stay hidden."

Tony shrugged before shaking his head. "Yeah it was, but I knew." He paused momentarily and frowned, his gaze still turned away. "I just... forgot."

The supercomputer considered this and looked solemnly over to Tony. He had decided. "...It's not your fault for forgetting," he insisted.

"Yeah it is," Tony answered stubbornly. That wasn't a surprise.

"I'm still resigning sir," Jarvis continued indignantly. He needed to get away from this place if he only caused Tony more headaches than anything else. He turned around and was hellbent on walking away. It was the end of the discussion.

"You've got no grounds to resign," Tony piped up from behind him, and this made Jarvis stop in his tracks. Damn him. Tony waited for Jarvis and turn back around before he continued. "Your contract to Stark Industries is binding." As if to prove a point, Tony pressed a digitalized contract floating in front of him and flipped it around for Jarvis to examine. "Plus there's the factor that I don't want you to go," he ended lamely.

Jarvis ignored the contract and frowned, glancing accusingly over to the other. "...Binding?" he repeated. "But that contract with your father expired 10 years ago," he scoffed, swiping it towards the trash.

Tony reached out and stopped it before flattening it out. "Nope. This was the new contract you signed," he clarified, tapping it with his finger to emphasize a point. "With me."

"I don't recall signing a contract with you, sir," Jarvis answered, racking his brain for a moment to try and recall that instance.

"Then take a closer look at the date," Tony intoned, pushing the virtual contract towards Jarvis a second time before he smirked. "Or would you prefer the video?"

Jarvis was left speechless as he took a closer look at the contract and pursed his lips. ' _Damn it Tony Stark,'_  he complained.

"Remember when we were in college? I drafted it and had you sign it when you expressed interest to work under my father. This was effective as soon as my father had died and I would be running his company," Tony began to explain.

"So that would mean I work under Miss-"

"Regardless of any change in CEO, your loyalty remains to me," Tony interjected with a grin.

Jarvis frowned evidently at this. "So in short... I signed off my human rights," he concluded.

Tony put on a thoughtful look before he nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. Which kinda makes your want to go into hiding a valid option and my forgetting too. Go figure." He grinned triumphantly. "So you're technically my property," he concluded. "And like I said, I don't want you going anywhere."

Jarvis knew the struggle was pointless. He sighed heavily. "...Very well sir. Then I shall go back to my post..." he said, about to turn around again.

"No," came Tony's immediate remark, swiping off the floating data and strode up to Jarvis, grabbing his wrist. "I'm not asking you to stop doing your job," he said gently, squeezing Jarvis' wrist a little together. "I just want you to quit hiding from me," he requested.

"I'm not hiding sir," Jarvis insisted, turning to face Tony.

Tony wasn't going to have any of it. "Then were did you go when I  _explicitly_  asked you to stay in the bedroom half a day ago?" He did some mental calculations for a moment before correcting himself. "Well, quarter."

"In my other work area by the elevator, sir," Jarvis pointed out.

_'Work work work. That was all Jarvis thought about!'_  Tony groaned and ran a hand through his scalp. "Can't you work remotely? I wanna give you a reason to live outside your little square box."

"I  _am_  most productive in my work area, sir. And I'm quite used to the situation I have now," Jarvis tried to explain for the nth time.

"Even if I openly tell you that I've loved you and had a crush on you when we were attending University together?" Tony tried. It was worth a shot.

"All in past tense sir," Jarvis retorted. "But I'm flattered," he added.

"I  **have**  loved you. Not loved you. Meaning I still do to this day," Tony clarified.

Jarvis stared at Tony, trying very hard not to correct him. "...I'm flattered, sir," he spluttered out in response.

The subtlest of pauses. Tony could figure that out as his playful smirk came out. "You were going to correct me just now, weren't you?" he teased, prodding Jarvis in the ribs.

"Of course not, sir," Jarvis said immediately.

"You don't think I still feel the same way? But what about  **you**  then?" Tony challenged, reaching out and poking Jarvis' chest.

Jarvis cleared his throat. He was slowly getting uncomfortable with this conversation. "...It's platonic, sir," he ended up stating.

"Uh-huh..." If anything, Tony could safely pinpoint Jarvis' lie; especially when he had material evidence pointing him in the opposite direction. He grabbed hold of a holographic folder and opened it, revealing a picture of himself to Jarvis. "So what are these pictures of me doing in your private stash?" he asked, turning to the picture and back to the other man before swiping through the reel of photos. "Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me sleeping. Me in the lab," he narrated.

Jarvis had to think up of an excuse. Tony was being too analytical about this. As usual. Damn him. He adjusted his glasses to mask the light quiver of his hands. "I was compiling them for future use of when Ms. Potts would want a copy for blackmail," he supplied.

"Nah, I doubt it. You had some journals attached to these pictures," Tony quickly rebutted, screening through the other holographic materials and enlarged several journal attachments to show Jarvis; just to further humiliate him and prove his point.

This left Jarvis genuinely speechless. He stared for minutes at the artifacts and cleared his throat uneasily. "I simply care, sir," he lied.

"Yeah right," Tony immediately retorted. He saw right thought that one too. "You love me, don't you?" he asked cockily. Again, this left Jarvis speechless, but his face began to show more telling signs as his cheeks flourished red. This urged Tony to continue. "According to the research I've done, you've been in love with me since University."

"All professional now sir," Jarvis said quickly. "That's in the past," he added for good measure.

"Soooo... it's pointless to show you this?" Tony asked cheekily, shuffling through his files and pulled out a small box, holding it up to the bespectacled man. This rendered Jarvis, for the third time, utterly speechless. "I think I got this a few months ago but I misplaced it," he tried to explain, glancing at the object for a while. "For you, I'm sure," he finished with a proud grin.

"I believe that was supposed to be for Ms. Potts, sir. You bought it a few days after you nearly died of poisoning?" Jarvis corrected.

"For Pepper? Heck no," Tony blatantly denied. It was true anyway, but Jarvis didn't seem convinced, or interested for that matter.

Jarvis shook his head and turned around. "I'm afraid I have no time for this sir," he said resolutely. He wasn't going to hear anymore of this. Work was waiting for him.

"He overworks me so, yet I still couldn't find it in myself to deny his requests. I love him too much to leave him by himself. He's arrogant and full of himself, but he needs someone to take care of him... and I could think of no one else better than myself," Tony read out loud from a hovering page, glancing at Jarvis' back and wondered if it would trigger anything.

Jarvis stopped and without turning around, asked, "Did I really sound that arrogant?" The tone was no longer robotic. Rather, it was a genuine inquiry.

"I find that sweet actually," Tony shared, fondly looking at the document again. "Plus I read that ad verbatim," he added with a grin. Jarvis finally wheeled around in time to Tony presenting the box. "Aaaaaand," he paused and popped the box open, revealing the silver ring. "I couldn't agree with you more."

Jarvis awkwardly adjusted his glasses, glancing from the ring to Tony. "...Are you sure about this, sir?"

Tony grinned cheekily. "As sure as I am joining the Avengers, buddy," he said with a chuckle.

Jarvis searched Tony's eyes and saw only truth in them. He smiled awkwardly for a moment. "Then... if you're sure... how could I possibly say no?"

"You don't," Tony immediately remarked. "Now give daddy a kiss," he cooed, outstretching his arms.

This time, Jarvis managed a smile and walked up to Tony, kissing him on the cheek. "Now I've got to go back to work... Daddy..." He smirked momentarily and walked out of the lab.

Tony frowned and wrapped an arm around Jarvis' waist, pulling him back. "Oi, I'm not letting you leave that easily. We've got a lot of compromises to discuss," he pointed out.

At this, Jarvis froze. "...Compromises?" he repeated with a tone higher than he would have intended.

"Yeah. Like you not locking yourself away too much and me actually spending more than 10 minutes giving a damn about your health," Tony began. "I'm going to spoil you rotten Jarvis," he concluded, smirking and slips the ring through Jarvis' left ring finger.

"But I'm quite healthy. I just finished my annual health check so everything's fine," Jarvis insisted.

"Not with the lack of sleep and food you eat," Tony remarked, rendering Jarvis speechless.

"You're spending time out of your little nooks and sleeping with me from now on."

"I... I suppose I could do that," Jarvis conceded.

Tony saw that Jarvis was somehow unconvinced and decided to try things a step further. "Will bribing you with some special alone time work too?"

Jarvis glanced incredulously over to Tony and slowly nodded in approval.

"Done. Let's start now," Tony said with a mischievous grin and closed up his research with a long swipe of his arm and led the way out of his secret space. This was all he needed - alone time with Jarvis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! This is the last chapter of our Tony and Jarvis story prior to the collaboration story, 'Our Last Stand'.


End file.
